Spicy tofu with lemongrass stir-fry as seen in San Francisco, Calif., on October 20, 2010. Food styled by Lindsay Patterson.

Spicy tofu with lemongrass stir-fry as seen in San Francisco, Calif., on October 20, 2010. Food styled by Lindsay Patterson.

Photo: Craig Lee, Special To The Chronicle

Artisans helping tofu break the barrier

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During a class at Michael Recchiuti's San Francisco chocolate factory, the bonbons came out of the enrobing machine covered in a thin layer of melted Valrhona chocolate, which quickly hardened into a shiny coating.

As Recchiuti offered samples, Doreen Hassan bit through the fine coverture to a pillowy white center. But it wasn't nougat she was tasting; it was tofu. Hassan had given up a Saturday afternoon to see what the chocolate master would do with a favorite food from her childhood.

"In Chinese culture, tofu is in so many dishes, from dim sum to entrees," says Hassan, 30, of San Jose. "It's such a unique experience to take something like chocolate and put it with tofu, and to not know what to expect. Every tasting is a surprise."

Tofu's image as a bland protein that's good for you but devoid of flavor is quickly changing. Bay Area chefs are making their own tofu, and local companies are producing it as it is done throughout much of East and Southeast Asia - for daily consumption, rather than vacuum sealed for weeks.

These producers are bringing the noble bean curd back to its handmade roots, showing that it can involve as much craft as cheese or chocolate.

"The metamorphosis of the soybean into product is very much like how the cocoa bean is ground down into syrup with sugar and made into a candy bar," says Recchiuti, who co-hosted the class with Hodo Soy founder Minh Tsai after conducting 35 experiments with soy and chocolate.

The tofu players

Hodo Soy produces tofu with unpasteurized soy milk it makes from non-GMO, organic beans. Tofu-Yu of Berkeley also makes organic, local tofu, and restaurants including Cyrus of Healdsburg, Morimoto in Napa, and Ozumo and Eiji in San Francisco make tofu tableside, served with simple garnishes that show off its fresh, beany flavor and luscious texture.

At the table, the warm soy milk is poured into a bowl with a coagulant, and stirred together. In about three minutes, the diner pulls off the lid to a bowl of steaming, soft tofu.

"It has a great texture and mouthfeel, especially when it's warm and silken," Yakura says.

Producers started here

Some of the biggest U.S. tofu companies started in the Bay Area, from Azumaya, which originally opened in San Francisco in the 1930s, to Wildwood, which started delivering its product by bicycle in Fairfax in 1978. There also have been countless mom-and-pop tofu companies that sell to Asian grocers and restaurants.

The new batch of fresh, local tofus found at farmers' markets, some large grocers and restaurants with a Japanese bent are also penetrating the non-Asian, non-vegetarian market.

"It's not just vegetarians ordering it," says Jeffrey Lunak, executive chef of Morimoto Napa, of the fresh tofu served tableside. "You often see it on a table with the Angry Chicken and a few steaks."

In the past decade, tofu and other soy-based foods have become standard supermarket items. Sales of soy foods and beverages in the United States reached $1.4 billion by 2008, the last year that statistics were available from Mintel, a leading market research company.

Soyatech, an industry research and consulting company, reports that soy foods saw their biggest growth between 1999 and 2004, when sales increased by 12 percent. This is partly attributed to the Food and Drug Administration allowing manufacturers to add claims about the health benefits of soy in 1999.

Growing appeal

A growing interest in tofu can be seen at biweekly public tours of Hodo Soy's 12,000-square-foot Oakland facility. Visitors watch machines turn steamed soy beans to pulp, then transport the strained soy milk to tray, where the coagulant calcium sulfate is added. When firm, the blocks of tofu are drained and then cut by hand for fresh and prepared products.

Hodo selected Iowa soybeans with a high protein and fat content, which add character to its silken, medium and firm tofu, as well as the company's rich fresh soy milk.

"Most soy milk is made not to taste beany because market research says people don't want to taste the soy. We make what I call bean juice. It's thick. Some people don't like it," says Tsai, whose company was recently joined by John Scharffenberger, founder of Scharffen Berger chocolates, as chief operating officer.

The soy milk also goes into tofu skin, called yuba. As the milk sits in steam trays, the fat rises to the top and naturally forms into thin sheets, just like scalded cow's milk. A worker gently lifts off each sheet, folds the yuba like a handkerchief, and delicately hangs it above the steam trays.

"We don't make any money selling yuba," Tsai says. Yet the crepelike, protein-rich yuba has its devotees, including chef Daniel Patterson, who uses it at his four-star San Francisco restaurant, Coi, as well as his new Oakland restaurant, Plum, where he serves it in a soup with mushroom dashi, Hodo tofu and greens.

A healthful twist

Kevin Stong, a Berkeley architect, decided to open Tofu-Yu in 2008 after visiting northern China with his business partner, Helen Yu. There, he saw huge displays of tofu in all textures and forms, from deep-fried to fermented. Yu had previously owned three tofu companies in Harbin, China, and wanted to introduce the healthful food to more Americans.

"In America, it is seen as just a white cake. People often don't know what to do with it," Stong says. Yu has brought over many of her staff from China, and the company goes through about 300 pounds of organic soybeans a day, selling its products in 16 farmers' markets and local grocers, such as crispy tofu strips in a lemon-chile sauce.

At the four-star Cyrus in Healdsburg, chef/co-owner Douglas Keane started making tofu almost two years ago for his vegetarian tasting menu. The restaurant now makes soy milk daily and serves about 10 to 20 plates of tofu a night, including agedashi - deep-fried tofu - with vegetarian dashi and matsutake mushrooms.

"I love the flavor and the texture of tofu, and the versatility," Keane says. "There's something that's so rich but yet not rich about it."

Keane and his staff originally spent six weeks experimenting before they mastered the technique of making soy milk and the correct ratio of milk to the Japanese coagulant nigari, or magnesium chloride. If you use too little, the tofu won't set, but too much makes the tofu bitter.

"We have our recipe down to the tenth of the gram. This guy was just looking at the mixture, and then grabbing another ladle of milk if he thought it needed it," says Keane.

The tiny shops that Keane visited are typical in Japan, where neighbors, merchants and restaurant chefs pick up their tofu daily. It's an example of how tofu is eaten differently in Asia than it is here, where firm, meat-like tofu is preferred over the softer versions popular in Asia.

"Westerners tend to treat tofu like they do meat. They grill it and they cook it in big pieces," says Olivia Wu, former Chronicle food writer and now executive chef at Jia Cafe at Google in Mountain View. She offers up to three tofu dishes daily, including simple soups, stir-fries and braises.

"The Asian way is never to treat any protein, including meat protein, as a big hunk of food," she says. "Tofu is just another flavor, it's just another form of nutrition that you would eat with your rice."

The co-founder of the Soyinfo Center in Lafayette, William Shurtleff first learned about tofu in the 1960s as cook at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley. He later spent six years studying soy foods in Japan and wrote "The Book of Tofu" (Ten Speed Press), which taught many Caucasians how to cook tofu in the 1970s.

Shurtleff is a vegetarian who places a lot of emphasis on the health and environmental benefits of soy foods. But he was first hooked by the flavor of freshly made tofu he stumbled across while hiking in the mountains in Japan.

"Someone was cooking deep-fried tofu, and that smell wafted about a mile away," Shurtleff says. "I ordered some with a little soy sauce, and I thought it was the most delicious thing I ever tasted."

Tofu details

Here are some places to purchase, go for more information or eat artisan or house-made tofu.

Hodo Soy, is sold at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and other farmers' markets, Rainbow Grocery, Monterey Market and some products at Whole Foods. hodosoy.com. Information about public tours available on the website.

Instructions: Place the water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the red miso and the tamari and salt, then add more tamari or salt to taste if you like.

Add the mushrooms, yuba strips and celery. Return to a simmer, then reduce to a low simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Serve right away.

Note: Hodo Soy's fresh yuba - the thin film or skin that forms on top of boiling soy milk as part of the tofumaking process - can be found at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, Monterey Market in Berkeley and some farmers' markets (see hodosoy.com for specific locations).

The soup is also good with cubed medium-firm tofu (about 10 ounces). Cook the rest of the soup about 10 minutes before adding the medium-firm tofu.

Spicy Tofu With Lemongrass Stir-Fry

Adapted from Hodo Soy founder Minh Tsai, this recipe reflects Tsai's Vietnamese roots by incorporating browned tofu and vegetables in a sauce of lemongrass, ginger and coconut milk. Fresh lemongrass and rice wine are sold at well-stocked supermarkets and Asian grocers.

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 teaspoon Vietnamese chile paste (or Tabasco)

2 stalks lemongrass (outer leaves removed), trimmed and finely minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

8 ounces firm tofu, diced

1/2 cup canned low-fat coconut milk

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon canola oil

2 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks

8 medium-size fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1 cup small broccoli florets

1/2 cup thin, diagonally-sliced green onions

Rice

1 cup long-grain brown rice

2 cups vegetable broth or water

1 bay leaf

To make the stir-fry: In a medium bowl, stir together the lime juice, rice wine, chile paste, lemongrass and ginger. Add the tofu and toss to combine. Marinate for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the coconut milk, broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil; set aside.

Coat a large saute pan with the canola oil and set over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and stir-fry for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and broccoli and stir-fry for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk mixture and green onions and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

To make the rice: Combine the rice, broth and bay leaf in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low and cook, covered, until the rice absorbs all liquid, 30 to 50 minutes (see package instructions). Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf.

To serve: Place equal portions of the brown rice on each plate and top with the stir-fry.

Instructions: Blanch the cilantro in a large pot of salted water for 10 seconds. Drain and shock immediately in a bowl of cold water. Drain and squeeze dry. Roughly chop the cilantro into approximately 1/2-inch lengths and place in a salad bowl.

Add the tofu and pine nuts, then the sugar, salt, vinegar and sesame oil; toss to combine.

Note: Natural food stores and well-stocked grocers usually carry the Wildwood brand, which makes a five-spice tofu. Smoke-, lightly spiced- and teriyaki flavored pressed tofu can also be used.

Wine pairing: Cilantro fans will enjoy this salad, which goes well with a pilsner such as Tsingtao.

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